Hey There Folks!! This column is designed to bring you reviews of new comic book series that came out this week. We will try to focus on independent and original series for the most part. This week we have four series for you. They are from AfterShock Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and Marvel Comics.
You will usually find the books that we review in this space on our month list of New Number Ones. You might want to check over there to see what you can expect for the rest of the month.
This week we will bring you our thoughts on four books: Artemis & The Assassin #1, Spider-Woman #1, Starship Down #1, and X-Ray Robot #1
Check out the reviews below in alphabetical order:
Artemis & The Assassin #1
AfterShock Comics
Written by Stephanie Phillips
Art by Meghan Hetrick & Francesca Fantini
Colors by Lauren Affe
Letters by Troy Peteri
Cover art by Phil Hester with Eric Gapstur & Mark Englert
Stephanie Phillips‘ latest story is full of bad ass women. The story jumps in time in a couple of places, but the techniques that Phillips uses allow it to be intuitive to the reader. The characters are easy to root for, and that is in no small part to the work of Meghan Hetrick and Francesca Fantini. The facial expressions and action sequences are wonderfully crafted. Lauren Affe adds a rich texture to the pages, and Troy Peteri does excellent work on the lettering. We are super excited to see where this story goes next.
Spider-Woman #1
Marvel Comics
Written by Karla Pacheco
Art by Pere Pérez
Colors by Frank D’Armata
Letters by Travis Lanham
Cover art by Junggeun Yoon
In this debut issue, Karla Pacheco stakes her claim as a damn fine Spider-Woman writer. You can feel the passion that she has for the character on every page. Pere Pérez delivers some amazing visuals in the main story, and Frank D’Armata does a fantastic job on the colors. This is a high octane adventure in a unique setting, and all throughout, Pacheco is setting the audience up for something surprising. This book is superb. Jessica is in good hands.
Starship Down #1
Dark Horse Comics
Written by Justin Giampaoli
Art by Andrea Mutti
Colors by Vladimir Popov
Letters by Sal Cipriano
Cover art by Andrea Mutti
This book really impressed me. It grabs you from the first page and leads the reader down a trail of discovery as the plot follows the presumed protagonist Dr. Young. The art by Andrea Mutti is lovely, and the color work by Vladimir Popov is captivating. The story that Justin Giampaoli has crafted here is smartly written and the dialogue does most of the explanation in a clear and efficient manner. I am looking forward to the next issue.
X-Ray Robot #1
Dark Horse Comics
Written by Michael Allred
Art by Allred
Colors by Laura Allred
Letters by Nate Piekos
Cover art by Allred & Allred
This is definitely a Michael Allred comic. That is meant in the best way possible. It has a crazy story with psychedelic imagery. It is wonderfully entertaining and just a gorgeous example of a master’s craft. Laura Allred‘s colors add so much to the effect of the visual story. This one is a winner.
DISCLAIMER:
We use a 4 star rating system. It is simple and not to be taken too seriously. Everyone has their own impressions of art. These ratings are just to give our readers an idea of what we thought of the book, and they will be on the generous side, normally. So don’t expect to see a lot of 1 Stars. After all, it’s not often that you have a bad book on your pull-list.
The rating system is as follows:
OK
